Implementation of an innovative new plan to clean up the country's two busiest harbors is being threatened by Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster's opposition to a proposal that would make it easier for independent truck drivers to organize. The plan, formulated by both Foster and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, would remove nearly 17,000 diesel trucks from the two cities' ports by banning older trucks and imposing a cargo fee to pay for newer, cleaner burning trucks. The plan has hit a snag over a Teamsters-backed proposal requiring independent truckers working in the harbor to work for trucking companies. Foster's opposition to the plan has left the larger cleanup plan in a tenuous position, with both mayors and the union engaged in heated political backfighting.
See "Status of truckers is a big hitch in port plan", David Zahniser and Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2008